Opponent Profiles: The Calling Station
Introduction
In this article
- Calling Stations don't bite.
- Bluffing is useless. Value bets, Value bets, Value bets!
- Caution: Calling stations can make you tilt.
One prevalent and unimposing inhabitant of the Hold'em Cashgame jungle is the so-called calling station. Although they play a style that is profitable for their opponents, their call-happy ways and tendency only to admit defeat on the river, as well as sporadic suckouts and bad beats can make them frustrating opponents.
This article examines the thoughts and playing style of the calling station and discusses the best way to deal with them.
What is a calling station and how can you recognize it?
A calling station is an extremely loose-passive player who plays too many hands pre-flop and goes too far with them. His VP$IP on SH tables can be 20%, but is usually much higher. We take the following values as a rule of thumb for identifying calling stations:
- VP$IP: 20-100%
- PFR: 0-10%
- AF: 0-1.5
- WTS: 35%+
A calling station plays a lot of worthless hands, which means that he is difficult to read. For example, they might have hit two pair on any flop. Another feature is that a pre-flop raise or even a raise/reraise won't stop them from calling cold with weak hands.
They continue this kind of play post-flop by calling bets with weak made hands like middle, bottom or underpairs, or chasing draws with terrible odds. This leads them to play for large pots with bad hands. It is visibly difficult for them to fold a hand where they've hit something, and even that isn't needed.
Furthermore, they show a lot of passivity, meaning they check and call more than an aggressive player and rarely raise themselves. Semi- or pure bluffs are seldom seen from them, if at all, and even good made hands are played passively.
They raise few hands pre-flop, 3bet only in extreme cases and will rarely try to steal the blinds. Calling stations tend to play even extremely strong hands passively.
In addition to the PT-stats, which always need a certain number of samples to be accurate, you can easily identify a calling station by the cards he displays at the showdown.
It is important to note a player's choice of starting hands and how he proceeds in various situations. If he shows a lot of passivity when playing big draws, for example (flush draw, OESD, combo draws), or plays check/call with made hands, or calls down with mediocre or poor hands, then you've got a calling station on your hands.
Why does a calling station play this style?
Calling stations don't possess good card reading skills or have confidence in their own reads. Therefore they don't recognize where they stand with their hands, and call with a very big range. Many calling stations are also afraid of being bluffed and take it personally.
They play poker for amusement, recreation, social contact or as a game of luck, but rarely to win. They always want to be part of of the action and therefore play too many hands and chase their draws despite not getting the odds to do so. Additionally they prefer a friendly atmosphere and don't want to destroy it with aggressive play.
What are the weaknesses of this Style?
In poker, patience and aggression are important. A calling station doesn't have enough of either. They are usually the biggest losers and can't even win in low limit games. They play far too many bad hands with negative expected values and invest too much money in losing hands post-flop. On the other hand, their passivity means that they are not well paid for their strong hands.
Of course, they get more suckouts than other players since they don't like to fold and sometimes get a lucky river, but since they call without the proper odds or implied odds, they lose in the long run.
They can only win against overaggressive players who do not adapt their game, since these opponents try to bluff, which is clearly not a viable strategy against calling stations.
How do I best play against a calling station?
If you can, sit to the left of the calling station. They will play many and large pots, so it is advantageous to have position on them according to the basic law of poker that money flows from right to left.
You'll play more hands with them than the other opponents and you can raise their limps, thereby trying to isolate them. If you don't have position on them, you'll too often have to let other aggressive players play with them and will rarely be involved in a hand with them. Furthermore, you'll have a harder time stealing the blinds and buying the button if they are to your left.
In general, and especially in chat, it's best not to provoke calling stations. Some of them know that they play badly but they don't care because for them it's not about winning but about a friendly get-together. Unfriendly behavior that makes them feel provoked or challenged can cause them to play more tightly and aggressively.
Before the flop, you should try to isolate the calling station. You can also pick your cards a bit looser since you won't need such strong hands to win against them. You should experiment with the size of your pre-flop raise a bit to get the desired result. A strong isolation raise is often good to end up heads-up with them on the flop
Calling is the nature of a calling station. It is impossible to say what they will do this with. Their range could include a lot of hands. You should treat them with respect and caution if they ever show initiative and bet or raise. They will rarely bluff or semi-bluff, or bet on a mediocre hand. They will often have a very strong hand, although it might not seem so, since the board may appear harmless but they could easily have an awkward two pair or have completed a weak draw on the turn or river, and you would never expect anybody to play the hands they do.
0.10/0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $25.00
BU $25.00
Preflop: Hero is UTG with A
A
Hero raises to $1.00, 2 folds, BU calls $1.00, 2 folds
Flop: Q
8 4
(2 players)
Hero bets $2.00, BU raises to $5.00, Hero?
You would have an equity of 83% against an absolute maniac, who would play every hand this way. Against a TAG, who would raise with AQ, KQ, QJ, QTs, 88, 44, Ax, KJ, JT, 76, 75, 65, 64, 54, the equity is around 67%.
With a passive calling station, you must often assume that he has two pair+. Semi-bluffs are not in his range and he'll usually not play top pair so aggressively. Our equity against the range of AA, KK, QQ, 88, 44, Q8, Q4 and 84 is only 31%.
Against bets or raises from a calling station, you should only raise with extremely strong hands. If your game is adjusted correctly, this signals a lot of strength and any other opponent who is capable of recognizing what's going on will also only continue playing with a very strong hand. For this reason, you should take note when such an opponent makes a cold 3bet after you have raised a calling station yourself.
This is also true for the reverse case, where an adapted player raises a station. They will rarely understand how much strength this implies just because they are poor poker players and do not understand how their table image works. They will often just keep playing. For this reason, I think it is correct to play against calling stations for your whole stack with bottom set or top two pair.
Forget about semi-bluff raises on a draw. You can, however, reckon with good implied odds since your opponent will almost never fold if the draw hits. If the fold equity is nearly nothing but you'll be paid off anyway if you complete your hand, then it doesn't seem to make sense to raise.
Semibluffs are sensible if you are heads up and the opposition shows no aggression. Even a calling station folds sometimes, and if they call and you hit then you can make larger bets on the turn and river. Furthermore, he'll rarely raise and you'll often get a freecard on the turn.
Pure bluffs are a lost cause. In particular, a 2nd barrel might make sense if a scarecard shows up and you know that he'll sometimes fold in these situations.
Even continuation bets must be reduced, if you don't hit the flop. Particularly with ace high, your opponent might call with every better hand but would never bet with a worse hand. For this reason, you can check and hope to hit a pair on the turn or river or to win the showdown with ace high.
The most important adjustment to make against a calling station is to make vast numbers of value bets compared to normal opponents. If the board is not dangerous, you can often bet on two streets with 2nd pair. You should also note that other opponents will make thinner value bets against a calling station but will hardly bluff. If a good player bets in a 3 way pot and the calling station calls, you can overcall more often than against two unknowns.
You should never try to check-raise calling stations since this move requires your opponent to be aggressive. A slowplay will be also no meaningful since the opponent, since such a player rarely folds.
0.10/0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $25.00
BB $25.00
Preflop: Hero is BU with A K
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.00, 1 folds, BB calls $0.75
Flop: A 9 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.75, BB calls $1.75
Turn: 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero?
Against other opponents, you could check behind for pot control and bluff induction, but in this case the opponent is a calling station and will rarely try a check-raise. You would lose value by checking. A bet is the right choice.
Hero bets $5.00, BB calls $5.00
River: J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero?
A player of this type is hard to read since he'll have called the pre-flop raise with almost anything and would also play very good hands just as passively.
He'll sometimes have relatively strong hands in this situation, from which you would expect a more aggressive line. But he'll also call 3 bets with some weaker hands. Against the range A6, A2, J9, J6, 96, 92, 62, AK, AQ, AT, A8, A7, A5, A4, A3, KK, QQ our equity is 53.1%. If he calls with this range (there are surely calling stations who would call with less, but some also with more), you could make a third value bet.
How to play against multiple calling stations?
Especially on the lower limits, you'll often find tables with multiple calling stations. It will often come to multi-way pots on these tables, and more players than average will see the river. The pots become larger and on average it takes a better hand to win against many opponents.
The consequence of this is that hands like suited connectors, suited gap connectors, and small pocket pairs increase in value, which means hands that are profitable with good implied odds and in multi-way pots. Highcard hands, however, lose value. Suitedness and connectivity rise in value while highcard value is diminished.
If you are on the button, for example, after three calling stations have already limped and you make a pre-flop raise of normal size, you will usually be confronted with up to four opponents on the flop. Therefore, it is not recommended to raise with hands that are hard to play in multi-way pots.
You can fold ATo, for example, but with AK, AQ, AA-TT you can make a larger raise. You can limp in that situation with 76o or 74s. You can also limp first-in with hands like suited connectors or small pairs in situations where you would normally have folded.
Don't tilt - Calling Stations can be annoying.
As we said, the calling station will not be influenced by your adjustment of your game to him. It might happen, though, that he goes on tilt and his game becomes more aggressive. You should note and react to this.
It can be hard not to tilt yourself against calling stations, especially a lot of them, since you'll pay through the nose for suckouts. It helps to remember that your opposition is making calls with negative expected value, and that this will show up in the long term results. Over the long run, you'll win more from this kind of opponent than any other.
Summary
When playing against a calling station, the following applies:
- It is worth isolating calling stations. Position is therefore very good to have, but it is not stringently essential.
- Adjust your play to the type of calling station you have at your table. Against some of them, you can steal.
- You should play strong hands aggressively and make a lot of Valuebets.
- Strong draws can be played aggressively, yet weaker ones should be checked until you hit.
- Pure bluffs and semi bluffs can be attempted in order to thin the field in multiway pots, yet calling stations will usually not be chased out of a hand with these.
- Slowplay is not an option against calling stations since they are so passive. If a calling station bets, you should check if there are straights possible, and assume at least a two pair.
- When a calling stations gets a bad beat or becomes upset in some way, you should be wary as to whether its style has changed and it has become more aggresive.
- Frequently calling stations will cause you bad beats or suckouts. If you're playing against several calling stations you're practically guaranteed to be sucked out on sooner or later. Should you be prone to tilting, you should avoid tables with multiple calling stations.
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